Family
by Foodie
Summary: James visits Grimmauld Place with Sirius for the Christmas holidays during their fourth year at Hogwarts.


Author's Note: This story was built upon a series of prompts given to me by my beta, ElfFlame. They were as follows: Regulus, James, Marauder Era, loyalty, friendship. All of those elements were to be used at some point in time in this story. It was not easy using all of them, but I managed it somehow!

Some parts of the story foreshadow a story co-written by ElfFlame and myself, entitled, The Maraudeteers, and is available on under ElfFlame's name, go check it out, it's a ton of fun!

The Lord of the Rings movies and book have been in my head space lately, so there are many elements in here that are similar to situations from that world. It just worked for this. As usual, I don't own any of these people, but enjoy it when they come and tell me a story about their history for me to write down. I love getting feedback, so please let me know what you think! Thanks!

-Foodie

Family

I don't know what I was thinking when I agreed to visit Sirius at his home in London. I knew his family was messed up, so why did I want to subject myself to that? He seemed to want the company over the Christmas holidays though, and since my family had decided to go to Morocco for the holiday, I'd decided to stay with Sirius.

"Why don't we just stay at the school?" I asked while packing my trunk, the day before we were to go to London.

"My mother expects Regulus and me to be home for the holiday. It's very important to her," he replied. He was busy packing his things as well, and I couldn't see the look on his face, but there was a hint of desperation to his voice. I didn't know why he needed me there, but it seemed important to Sirius that I be there, for moral support if nothing else, I suppose.

"That's cool, mate," I replied as enthusiastically as I could. I wasn't looking forward to this trip at all.

The next morning, Sirius, his brother Regulus, and I, boarded the Knight bus for the treacherous journey to London. I had never really talked to Regulus before, though he was only a year younger than Sirius. He was quieter than Sirius, though they resembled one another greatly in a physical sense. They both had the same shaggy black hair and eyes. He was several inches shorter than Sirius, but just as muscular. He'd managed make it onto the Slytherin Quidditch team in only his second year. Regulus never seemed to let an opportunity to rub the fact in that Sirius hadn't gotten onto the team until his third year, pass him by.

"So Sirius, how pleased do you think mum was to hear when you lost to me in the Quidditch match?" he asked haughtily while we bumped along the road to London.

Sirius scowled. He hated to be reminded that Gryffindor had lost the match a month ago to Slytherin. "Well, I'd say pretty pleased if the basket of sweets she sent you were any indication," he finally replied harshly.

"They were most excellent sweets too. It's a shame mother didn't send any to you, you know, as a consolation for losing," Regulus said, looking at his fingernails as if they were the most fascinating thing he'd ever seen.

I watched as Sirius clenched his fists, yet said nothing in reply. He turned and looked out the window in silence, biting his lip. I turned to look at Regulus, who was still gloating. He looked so much like his brother right then, but instead of the normal humour I felt when watching Sirius responding in triumph over somebody, I felt angry, and sad. How could somebody treat their own brother that way? It was terrible.

Sirius remained silent for the rest of the ride to his home. He seemed to be in some sort of a trance as he managed to stay in his seat through the turns and jerks the bus made along the way. He just stared out the window the entire time. I wasn't used to him being so quiet.

I was pretty nauseous by the time we arrived at Number 12 Grimmauld Place. I swear we almost tipped over three times along the way. I was trying to lift my trunk up, when a servant took it from my hands and began walking back to the house.

I started walking towards the house, and stopped to wait for Sirius, who was lugging his trunk out of the bus. I ran back and helped him carry the trunk up the stairs and into the house.

Regulus was giving his mother a hug when we entered. "Hello mum," he said before kissing her cheek.

"It's so good to see you again, Regulus, dear," Mrs. Black said, doting on her youngest son. Once done hugging Regulus, she turned to look at Sirius. "Sirius, wipe your feet, you're treading mud all over the floor," she said in greeting.

"Nice to see you too, mother," Sirius said before wiping his feet on the antique Persian rug in the foyer. I watched him grin for a moment while she had her back turned.

The grin was wiped off the second she turned back around and looked at me. "And you must be Sirius's little friend, James Potter," she sneered.

"Yes, it's a pleasure to meet you," I said politely, trying to hide my rising anger towards this woman.

Mrs. Black wrinkled her nose. "Wipe your feet off as well," she replied before turning her back on me and walking back to Regulus. "Come with me dear, and tell me all about school," she said while leading him into the parlour. I watched as she left the foyer. I couldn't help but wonder why she was so harsh, and how Sirius had managed to stay sane with her as a mother.

"Come on, I'll show you to your room," Sirius said after a minute, snapping me out of my thoughts.

Just as we were lifting the trunk up the stairs, a house elf popped out of a dark corner of the hallway. "The Boy has come home for the holidays. Mistress is _so_ happy to see you," it said in a silky voice as it walked up to them.

"Kreacher, why don't you go worship mother? It is what you do best, after all," Sirius sneered in return.

"The Boy is always _so_ nice to Kreacher, doesn't even introduce Kreacher to his guest," Kreacher said while sidling up to me. "The Boy has absolutely no manners. It is a wonder Mistress tolerates him at all. You is That Potter Boy, The Boy's friend," he said, glaring up at me.

"Yes, I am," I replied curtly. "Now, if you're not going to help us, then get out of our way. This trunk is very heavy, and I'd hate for it to accidentally slip and crush you."

"The Boy would like to crush Kreacher. The Boy does not like Kreacher, but that is all right, for Kreacher does not like The Boy," the house elf said before slinking off down the stairs and into the parlour, where his Mistress awaited.

Together, Sirius and I trudged up the stairs with the trunk, and walked to his room. There were disturbing pieces of artwork on the walls, most notably, a display of severed house elf heads mounted on plaques and hanging on the wall outside Sirius's room. I don't know how they managed to look as though their eyes were following you wherever you walked, but it scared the hell out of me.

"How do you sleep at night with those things outside your door?" I couldn't help but ask as we settled into his room.

Sirius shrugged. "I don't know. I never paid much attention to them. They've always just been there," he replied.

I walked around his room. This was the first time I'd ever been to Black Manor. It was much larger than my home, which wasn't too shabby, mind you.

Sirius had a twin-size bed in the corner of the room, with a dark green comforter on it. There was a wardrobe in another corner. His writing desk was set up in front of the heavily curtained window.

As I walked to the desk, I saw some pictures spellotaped to the wall next to the curtain. There were Muggle postcards of deserts and exotic places, as well as cuttings of magazines and newspapers of foreign locations. Sirius had walked up to me and was looking at the pictures fondly when I turned to look at him. "I'm going to go to all those places some day," he stated confidently, with a huge smile on his face. "When we get out of school, I'm going to travel the world, and see all there is to see." He pointed to a postcard in the corner of the montage. It had a picture of a pirate ship with the skull and crossbones flying high on the mast. Across the top were the words: Disneyland, the Happiest Place on Earth. "I'm going to go there, mate. California…they say it's always hot there. I'm going to learn how to surf, and lie on the beaches and look at all the girls…It's going to be so much fun," he said in a voice that barely contained his enthusiasm.

"Can I come too?" I asked, thinking of beaches and girls.

"Sure, maybe Remus and Peter can join us as well," Sirius replied, clapping me on the shoulder excitedly.

Once Sirius and I had unpacked his trunk, we moved next door, to the room I'd be staying in. The servant who'd carried my trunk inside had apparently taken it all the way up to the room, for it was sitting at the foot of the bed when we went inside.

The room was identical to Sirius's, except there weren't any personal effects. "So, we should probably hurry up and get back downstairs. Your mum might get cross if we don't," I said while opening my trunk.

"Oh, I don't think there's anything I can do to not make her cross," Sirius replied. "She doesn't seem to like me too much, in case you didn't already pick up on that vibe."

"I had noticed," I replied. Once done unpacking, I sat down on my bed and looked up at Sirius. "Why doesn't she like you?"

Sirius sighed and flopped down on the bed next to me. "I've wondered that myself a lot. I think it's because she knows she can't control me," he sighed. "She hates anybody and anything she can't control. It's kind of an issue for her."

I looked down at Sirius and shook my head. "That's so wrong. How could a mother not love her own son?" I asked sadly.

"Don't know, but she seems to enjoy it. It's like a game for her. She enjoys playing mind games with people. And it's not as though she smacks me around or anything," he said, shrugging off the issue.

"How can you not be completely upset over that?" I just couldn't understand it.

"I don't know…" he trailed off. "She's my mother…" he replied in a quiet voice.

I sighed and wondered if I would still love my parents even if they were abusive to me. I suspected the answer would be, yes. I decided right then and there, to give my mother a big hug, and tell her how much I loved her the next time I saw her.

Finally, Sirius stood up. "Come on mate, time for tea with mother," he said lightly while walking to the door.

Mrs. Black and Regulus were sipping cups of tea when we walked in the room and sat down in chairs across from them. "I see you finally decided to join us," Mrs. Black commented snidely while I grabbed a plate and helped myself to a few biscuits.

Sirius sat quietly while he sipped his tea. "Mother, my marks improved in all my classes this term," he finally announced with a smile on his face. I didn't understand why this was an important point to make. He'd almost always made perfect marks, and his mother had to realize that.

Mrs. Black snorted. "You cheated, no doubt," she replied harshly before turning to Regulus. "_Your_ marks have always been excellent," she said while petting his hair.

"Yes mother, and I have never once cheated," Regulus said, glancing over at Sirius. I tried not to snort in derision. I knew that was a huge lie, for it was well known that the older Slytherins sold answers to exams to their younger housemates at a hefty price. Though, knowing him, Regulus and probably managed to worm the answers out of them for free.

Sirius's smile fell and he turned back to sip his tea in silence again. I shook my head, unable to believe what I'd just seen.

The next several days continued in much the same way. Sirius and I tried to spend as much time as possible in either his room or mine, only joining the family for meals.

One morning, when returning from my shower, I heard Regulus and Sirius talking in Sirius's room. Regulus was standing in the open doorway and I quietly opened my door and stood just inside the room so I could still hear them, but would not be seen by them.

"Mother just goes on and on about you when you're not around. It's too bad you're never there when she says such nice things about you. Why, just last night, she said, 'If that boy drags home one more friend of his, so help me, I'm going to start billing him for the room and board.' Isn't that sweet of mum?" Regulus said in a taunting voice.

"Shut the hell up, Regulus," Sirius cried, "Just get out of my room!"

"Your room for now, maybe. Mum says I'll be inheriting the house some day, and you know what? If you're still living here when I do, one of the first things I'll do, is throw you out. You can go live with your Potter friend, I'm sure he'd be willing to take in a stray friend," Regulus replied.

"I'd much rather stay with him than you any day, wanker!" Sirius cried after his brother as Regulus left the room. A second later, he walked past my room, stopping to stare at me for a second. He sneered and walked away before I had a chance to say anything to him.

I walked into Sirius's room and sat down at his desk. "So, what are we going to do today?" I asked, pretending I hadn't overheard what I had.

"Not sure, but I think it would be nice for a brisk winter walk, what do you think?" Sirius replied lightly, his back turned so I couldn't see the look on his face. When he turned around, he was wearing his usual grin. "Who knows what we'll find to do out there today," he cackled.

"That works for me, mate," I said, smiling sadly. I couldn't help but wish Sirius would be able to get away from this place for good some day. It just wasn't good for him to be around these people for so long.

Christmas came and went, blissfully uneventful. Nobody said anything bad about Sirius, which was a nice break. We all sat and watched as Regulus opened his many presents. He got a new green and silver brocade frock, a new set of Quidditch gear, including a top of the line broom. He crowed over the complete set of Slytherin Wizard cards his father gave him. But his most prized gift, was the silver Granian winged horse his parents gave him. It would be staying at their summer home, but Regulus was very excited at the thought of riding him. The gift came complete with a set of green riding clothes for Regulus to wear while riding and flying on the horse's back.

Sirius received a few gifts as well. There was a set of woolen robes, in a deep evergreen tint, as well as a Black Family history book. He also got a most wonderful book entitled, _From Salazar to Grindelwald, Great Slytherins in History_. Mrs. Black felt that it was only appropriate that both of her sons received a pet as a gift, so Sirius was given a boomslang.

I couldn't believe she'd gotten her son a poisonous snake, but after a minute of thinking about it, it seemed exactly the sort of "gift" she'd give him. She probably hoped it would bite Sirius and kill him.

I received a green wool cloak, and a copy of the Slytherin history book from Mr. and Mrs. Black. My gifts from my parents were waiting for me up at the school. I'd open them when I got back to Hogwarts in a few days.

We had a pretty good meal. There was roast beef, mashed potatoes, and Yorkshire pudding, as well as roast crown of pork, creamed parsnips, and lots of other vegetables to choose from. There was pumpkin pie, mincemeat pie, and plum pudding with hard sauce for pudding afterwards. I tried a little bit of everything, and stuffed myself into a stupour.

We sat around the table afterwards, sipping cocoa and listening to the adults talk. "Sirius, don't sip so loud," Mrs. Black complained at one point in time.

"How can I drink if I don't sip it? I can't help it, mother," Sirius replied in a frustrated tone.

"Don't talk back to your mother, boy!" Mr. Black cried. "After all the gifts we gave you, how dare you be so insolent?"

Sirius sighed. "I'm sorry father, I didn't mean to be so rude," he said in a defeated tone.

"That's better," Mr. Black hissed. "Kreacher, pour me another Firewhisky!" he cried out to the hallway where the house elf was waiting.

That was the only moment of unpleasantness during the entire day, which was a record in my book.

A couple days later, early in the morning, while Sirius was still asleep in his room, and I assumed Mrs. Black was still sleeping as well, I walked into the kitchen to find something to eat, only to find Regulus already there. I tried to remain calm as my anger towards him built up inside of me. I'd been here for several days, and had seen quite enough of the treatment my best friend in the entire world received from his family.

I took an apple from a bowl on the counter and watched as he turned to look at me. "So…James, how do you like my house?" he asked confidently, raising an eyebrow.

"It's…interesting," I replied coolly.

"I'll be inheriting it some day," Regulus said, looking around the kitchen like he was already planning the remodeling he'd be doing once the house was turned over in his name. "The first thing I'll do is get more house elves. One for each floor I think. And one for a personal servant; I think I deserve it," he smirked.

"Oh? You wouldn't throw your brother out first?" I asked casually, raising an eyebrow. It was just enough to let him know I had heard exactly what he'd said to Sirius a few days before. I turned the subject onto the idea of house elves next. "I can see why you'd want lots of house elves. You wouldn't want to have to do anything for yourself now, would you?" I said sarcastically before biting into the apple.

"What? You don't think I should have all the house elves I want?" Regulus asked, choosing to ignore the comment about his brother.

"I don't really care what you want. It's not my business," I said in between bites.

"Oh, I forgot, your family doesn't have house elves. You all think you're too good for them."

I shrugged my shoulders. "We do just fine with human servants," I said lightly, "but if you want house elves, that's fine for you."

"Well, I'm so glad to have your permission," Regulus replied in a snotty tone.

"You did ask."

Regulus seemed to be upset that I wasn't envying him. He changed the subject, no doubt to try and get the upper hand again. "I could never understand why you became friends with that no-good loser brother of mine. I knew he was doomed to failure the minute I heard he'd managed to not get into Slytherin," he said while cackling with laughter.

I narrowed my eyes. I'd heard enough of this from his mother over the last week. It hurt to see that Sirius didn't stand up for himself against her, or others of his family who treated him like crap, so I wasn't about to let them do it in my presence if I could help it. I took a step towards him, took a deep breath to stay calm, and opened my mouth to speak.

"I would much rather be friends with Sirius than you, Regulus. He might have his faults, but at least he's not a horse's arse like you," I growled, clenching the apple in my hand so tightly I could feel juice dribbling in between my fingers. "Sirius is my best friend, and I will not allow you to talk about him like that. He's a good person, and none of you see that. You all treat him like he's got some sort of disease. He's smart and supportive, and the most loyal person you'll ever meet. And your mother is killing that in him. His spirit withers in this house. This house…" I trailed off, stopping to think of the best words to say what I felt, "it kills whoever lives here. It drains away their spirits until there's nothing left but a cold, empty shell." I wasn't sure what I was saying, but the words just kept pouring out of my mouth. "I hope Sirius has a chance to get away from this place, and you people, before you kill his spirit for good. And I'll help him. I'll do everything I can to help him get away from that. I'll be dead before I see his spirit drained by this darkness!"

Regulus's eyes dilated as he glared at me. "How dare you speak to me in such a fashion?" he hissed. "I was giving you a chance to ally yourself with somebody who'll be able to take you much farther than my idiot brother will. I mean, really, how can you be friends with somebody who likes Mudbloods? I myself am ashamed to be related to him."

I couldn't help but think of Lily Evans at that moment. She was Muggleborn, and barely gave me the time of day, but it felt good to know I was about to defend her honour, even though she'd never know about it. "Don't you dare talk about them like that. I like Muggleborns myself too, you know!" I shouted, while throwing what was left of my apple on the floor and storming over to Regulus. Grabbing him around the collar and hoisting him up to look him straight in the eyes, I continued. "And any one of them would make a far better friend than you ever would! And as for being ashamed of Sirius, I'd be ashamed to be known as _your_ friend. If you ever try to talk to me again, I'll kick your arse." With that, I shoved Regulus out of my way while walking towards the kitchen door.

Regulus stumbled and fell against one of the chairs in the kitchen. "You're going to regret doing that, Potter!" he shouted as I walked out of the room. "I will not be treated like this! Not in my house!"

I ignored his ranting while walking away from the scene. I tried to regain my calmness while walking back upstairs to Sirius's room. I was almost back to normal when I got there. "So, it's time to start packing I suppose," I said as serenely as possible, "We have to leave tomorrow morning."

I was glad the day passed quickly. I somehow managed to avoid running into Regulus again. We finished packing, and spent a quiet evening in our rooms.

The next morning, as I was taking my trunk downstairs, I heard the sounds of voices coming from the parlour, and set the trunk down to walk closer. I heard Sirius's voice wafting from the room. He was talking to his mum. I walked to the doorway and listened to the conversation.

"Mother, I'll be leaving to return to school in just a few minutes…" he said quietly.

"Not too soon," Mrs. Black snapped. "Though I suppose the school won't let you take your pet boomslang with you. We'll have Kreacher take care of it until you return for the summer holidays, unless you find a friend to stay with. Perhaps that Potter boy and his family can take you in. We'll be summering in Bath as usual, and you know Regulus always brings too much stuff for just his own room."

Sirius remained silent for a minute before responding. "I'll do my best to find a place to stay over the holiday, mother. I wouldn't want to ruin your summer," he said in a flat voice.

"You'd better not ruin it. Your brother has worked very hard this year with his classes and Quidditch, and he deserves a good holiday. I'll not have you upsetting him."

"Yes mother," Sirius said, his voice growing louder as I heard footsteps walking towards the door of the parlour. I moved further away, back towards my trunk, but managed to hear the rest of the conversation.

Sirius stopped in the doorway and turned to look at his mum. "Mother I…" he said in a quiet voice, "I…love you, mother." His voice was full of sorrow as he spoke these words, as though dreading the response he'd receive.

Sirius turned and took a couple steps out of the parlour before Mrs. Black called after him. "Sirius…"

He turned back and looked at his mother. "Yes, mother?" he asked, almost eagerly.

"Make sure to help your brother take his trunk back into the school when you arrive. I don't want him hurting his back when he needs to keep in shape for his last Quidditch match of the year," she replied coldly.

Sirius's head fell. "All right, mother," he whispered before leaving the room again and walking quickly out of the house again.

The Knight Bus ride back to the school was just as bumpy and jarring as the trip to London had been. I was never more glad to be back at school before when we arrived a couple hours later.

As Regulus strolled back to the school, leaving his trunk behind him, I helped Sirius lift all three with our wands.

The two of us walked up the stairs into the school in silence. Once we made it back to our dormitory, I looked at Sirius. He'd not spoken a word to me since leaving the house that morning. I knew he had to feel terrible over his mother's parting words. How could I make him feel better?

"So, Sirius…" I began, "I was thinking, this was a lot of fun, you know, spending the holiday with you. How about we continue it by having you come stay with me and my family over the summer? I mean, it's a big house, and there's nothing to do. I'll be bored to tears for the most part, so…what do you say? Will you come with me and help me have some fun over the holiday?"

Sirius was sitting on his bed, with no expression showing in his features. Finally, he took a deep breath and looked up at me. "That might be fun," he said, putting the tiniest of smiles on his face.

"It'll be the best! You just wait and see!" I said enthusiastically. I knew right then that I had to help Sirius have a lot of fun over the holiday, which wouldn't be too difficult. After all, he'd be away from that no-good mother of his, and spending his time with me, his real family. What could be better than that?


End file.
